Shadow Mountain I am the voice inside your head

He seemed unbothered; but then when he spoke Ibis found his choice of words crass, harsh to her ears. It was not something she was accustomed to hearing. His voice was rough but it suited him too, she thought. A rugged man from who-knows-where. She felt much better in knowing that she hadn't hurt him or caused him distress, although after the fact she did feel a small wave of embarrassment for even asking - he looked stalwart, if a bit thin. Larger than her by far, as most wolves were. Perhaps he was more suited to the mountains than she was.

And when he asked about her group, she wasn't sure how to answer. Was a pair of wolves the same as a group? She thought of Okeanos; then of Mal, Ereshkigal—those abandoned and those that had left, feeling suddenly guilty. Again he swore, but Ibis did not want to offend him with censorship so she let it slide—instead when she opens her mouth she is quick to say, I live in the valley below.

Then, thinking that wasn't enough of a truth, she added: There is a marsh. I stay there with my brother... But I thought it would be safe up here too, which is obviously wrong. She pauses to look out over the edge of where they're both standing, down the incline of unstable dirt, as if something might spring up and smack her. Everything, everywhere, is so unstable.